Program Overview

Parenting Coordinator | Facilitator | Mediator | Arbitrator

Click to read our blog interview with Kat

Kat has been working with people in conflict for over 20 years and has been providing services by distance for over 10 years. She has a diverse practice as a dispute resolution professional and registered social worker, in private practice. Kat’s practice emphasis is on relationship building and working across differences with a trauma informed and strength-based approach. Her main area of focus is working with families and groups with complex circumstances such as high conflict, a history of trauma or mental health challenges, addiction, involvement with the legal system or intercultural issues. Kat provides dispute resolution services, counselling and coaching, training, restorative justice circles, child interviewing and family assessments, organizational development, and group facilitation; She also provides the full range of her services by distance. She designs and provides training on mediation and conflict resolution skills, trauma informed practice, sexualized violence prevention, and family violence screening. Kat is also on the faculties of the Justice Institute of BC in both the Centre for Conflict Resolution and the Centre for Counselling and Community Safety, Continuing Legal Education of BC, and Herzing College in the Kompass Professional Development Program.

She has a Master of Social Work with a Clinical Specialization and her major project for her MSW was on the impact of grief and attachment in parenting coordination. She is a Chartered Arbitrator, Mediator, and Med-Arbitrator certified by ADR Canada, an Advanced Comprehensive Family Mediator certified by Family Mediation Canada, is on the rosters of Mediate BC, the BC Hear the Child, the BC Parenting Coordinator Roster Society and is recognized as a Qualified Parenting Coordinator in Saskatchewan. Kat received her Certificate in Conflict Analysis and Management and her Certificate in Family Mediation from The Institute of Conflict Analysis and Management with an emphasis on Conflict in Organizations and Group Facilitation Skills. She received her Certificate in Arbitration from the ADRBC (formerly BCAMI). She is on the Board of Directors of the BC Parenting Coordinators Roster Society, is President of the University of Victoria Alumni Association, and is a former member of the Boards of Directors of both ADRBC and Family Mediation Canada. Kat is a volunteer restorative justice facilitator with Restorative Justice Victoria, and is a member of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC), Family Dispute Resolution Institute of Ontario (FDRIO), and the National Association of Forensic Social Workers (NOFSW).

Click here to read an interview on our blog with Mary Joseph 

Mary Joseph is a retired lawyer, United Church Minister and Certified Spiritual Director. She is also an accredited mediator and provides family mediation services in the private and public sector as well as teaching mediation at the professional certification level.

Mary practiced immigration law from 1986 until 2004 with an emphasis on refugee law and skilled and domestic workers. She was also Vice Chair of the Canadian Bar Association – Ontario in Immigration as well as the founder and Editor of their Immigration newsletter. She was one of the original pioneers of same sex immigration for Canada. Since 2002 until her retirement in 2018, Mary practiced collaborative family law exclusively. She was also Ordained by the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches in 1999 and has been a part-time pastor and mission strategist for the United Church of Canada until her retirement at the end of 2018.

She has been a guest lecturer at numerous educational institutions and societies including The Canadian Bar Association, Osgoode Hall Law School, University of Toronto as well as the Learned Society and Mensa International. Prior to being called to the bar, Mary tried out a variety of professions including Police Officer, Immigration Border Examining Officer, Industrial Firefighter, Private Investigator as well as several other service sector professions before committing to a lifelong practice of law. She is also a former board member of the Elizabeth Fry Society.

Mary holds a college diploma from Niagara College, Bachelor of Arts from Brock University, a Juris Doctor from Osgoode Hall Law School and Masters of Divinity from Victoria University at University of Toronto.

Her published work includes: 2005: Seeking the Sacred; Leading a Spiritual Life in a Secular World ECW Press; Toronto 2006 (prolegomenon) (founder and ED of Seekers Dialogue), 1990 – 1993 Immigration and Citizenship Update, Canadian Bar Association – Ontario Immigration Newsletter Founder / Editor, 1985 Illegal Immigrants: Know Your Rights, Pamphlet for the Illegal Immigrant Support Group Toronto, Ontario, 1983 Immigration Handbook, Department of Justice Joint Author  (Unpublished)

Click to read our blog interview with Hayley

Hayley is an accredited mediator with the Ontario Association of Family Mediators. As a Counselor, she has a Masters degree from U/T in the Counselling Psychology program. She specializes in post-modernist theories, such as Brief therapy, Narrative strategies and Control mastery theories as well as Cognitive theory and CBT. Her undergraduate work trained her as a Child and Youth Worker, specializing in child development and behaviour in various milieus. She has co-created over 50 parenting plans with a range of needs, issues and stages of child development as well as adult changes in executive and cognitive functioning.

Working in the children’s mental health field as an advocate and youth worker as well as with the children’s aid society as a parent support worker Hayley wished to take her skills in family relations, child development, and parenting strategies in a different direction. She chose to work with separating families. Hayley’s vision was a “one stop shop” for families to work with a team of integrated and specialized professionals. Hayley trained and worked as a Neutral with Collaborative Practise Toronto.  With Marion Korn, Lawyer, Mediator and Collaborative trainer, and Eva Sachs (Financial Specialist) they set up Mutual Solutions; a hybrid practice catering to divorcing couple.

Hayley has been teaching post secondary diploma and degree courses for 25 years. She has found the mix of learning and practising very potent for professional and personal growth as well as supporting clients.  A time to reflect on how we do our work.  And she hopes to learn from you!

Since returning to the mediation field, she has immersed herself in working with high conflict families and believes supporting families in crisis is essential and dynamic work.

I have over 8 years of international and Canadian experience with specialized knowledge in Conflict Resolution, Peacebuilding, complex Multi-Party negotiation, Restorative Justice and Indigenous Rights. As a Mediator and Circle Keeper I bring a unique and highly diverse set of experiences with a focus on cross cultural settings and negotiations, power rebalancing, consensus building, conflict coaching, and conflict transformation in International, community and workplace settings. I am currently in my second year of my PhD Candidate at Queens University working in the Geography Department.  My current research is looking at Critical Geographies of living well (buen vivir)  in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Where I am working with families of the Indigenous Shuar Community through community-based participatory research to examine alternatives to development and seeking to understand as well as preserve their traditional ecological knowledge located in their ancestral territory to counter hegemonic knowledge production.I have completed my Masters of Philosophy in International Peace Studies from Trinity College and have obtained Advanced Dispute resolution training from York University, and the GlenCree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation. I am fluent in English, Portuguese, Spanish and am working on my Haitian Creole. I learned to speak both Spanish and Portuguese while living abroad in South America after completing my undergraduate degree in Philosophy and Environmental Studies. My experiences abroad and especially in Latin America, have created a passion for sustainable development, and people. I believe through mutual understanding, creative problem solving and shared responsibility we can begin to solve some of the world’s most pressing issues. Having travelled to 42 countries across the globe all of my experiences, studies, and work have shaped my passion to make the world a better place.